Police needed time to investigate the circumstances of each accident, before leaping to any conclusions, he said.

‚Äú[For Woodhouse] to go onto a talk-back show and get roasted and decide you are going to do something then it looks, frankly, just a little bit¬†flakey¬†to me,‚ÄĚ Little said.

‚ÄúIf there is a debate about whether there should be a more varied range of speed limits ‚Äď some open roads can accommodate 110km per hour and some can‚Äôt ‚Äď that is a separate debate and we should have that at some point.

‚ÄúBut I am a little bit uncomfortable about this climbing into the police for enforcing the speed limits.‚ÄĚ

Little backed police, saying he saw no problem in ¬†‚Äúsending a signal when you know that there are peak travel times, saying that you are going to strictly enforce the law.‚ÄĚ

So Labour‚Äôs policy is that you should be ticketed for driving at 101km/hr in a 100 km/hr zone if it is a¬†holiday period!

The police have involved themselves very prominently in a civil dispute between Uber and other cab companies and are now shaking down passengers as they continue their jihad against Uber on behalf of cab companies.

Auckland police are questioning¬†Uber¬†passengers in their crack-down on the driver-on-demand system.

Holly, a 26-year-old woman who did not want her surname used, said she was in an¬†Uber¬†car at Auckland’s ferry terminal on Saturday.

A police officer in an unmarked police car stopped the car and questioned her telling the driver to stay away while she was grilled, she said. Holly said the officer pulled her aside and asked how she ordered the vehicle and whether they had agreed a set price before the journey.

When she said “it (the¬†Uber¬†app) tells me at the end”, the officer turned his attention to the driver.

Holly said the officer told her that¬†Uber¬†was illegal in New¬†Zealand.

It’s not, but the manner of billing passengers is what has caused contention. Uber¬†operates as a private hire service which means the fare has to be set at the time of booking, rather than using a meter.

Police have confirmed they have stopped several¬†Uber¬†drivers and charged them or issued them infringement notices for using their¬†smartphone app as a meter – a breach that would make them subject to taxi regulations. ¬† ¬† Read more »

It hasn’t really rained in most of the country for damn near two weeks.

The weather forecasters got it wrong over New Year, and basically the roads have been dry for the whole holiday period.

The police have focussed on speeding, so much so that the average holiday speed on the open road is adding hours to trips.

And yet the road toll is now double what it was last year and will likely be more than that with one day left.

The holiday road toll now stands at 14 – double last year’s – with the latest fatality occurring after a car hit a tree in Canterbury last night, killing its male driver.

The Toyota saloon ran off on Lake Road at Leeston, near Lake Ellesmere, and struck a tree at around 11.20pm. The driver, who is expected to be named later today, was found dead at the scene, police said.

With many holiday-makers preparing to head home, the nation’s road policing chief, Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff, issued a plea for drivers to be vigilant. “Families have enjoyed time away and now they should give themselves plenty of time to reach their destination,” he said.

They’ll need plenty of time because the cops have parked themselves at the end of every passing lane, frightened drivers so much they drive between 80-95km/h…and all for nothing.

Last year’s Christmas-New Year road toll was seven, from a total of 193 reported injury crashes. But the official holiday period was three days shorter than this year’s – which ends at 6am on Monday.

Even though GPS speedometers are clearly more accurate than those inside the car, the police aren’t going to accept GSP records¬†as evidence in speeding cases.

Typically, [inbuilt car] speedometers would give a faster reading so drivers were travelling slower than what was shown.

Many comments touched on the accuracy of GPS devices when it came to reading speed.

But yesterday a national police headquarters spokesperson said GPS devices were not a certified method of tracking speed.

“Given that a GPS is not accepted as a reliable means for proving a driver’s speed, police do not accept this as an excuse for speeding.

“GPS systems used for speed or locations can only be an indicator, not a source of absolute true information due to signal loss through buildings, terrain or weather conditions,” the spokesperson said.

Police detection devices, such as speed cameras and speed guns, were checked annually for accuracy, and were calibrated to strict international standards. Read more »